


Come Home

by Annien



Series: The Arcane Warrior and The Nightingale [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 08:32:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12790722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annien/pseuds/Annien
Summary: The clock stroke 3AM and Leliana was still at her desk, a lone candle in the complete darkness of the rockery and the utmost silence filling the now-asleep Skyhold. Four crumpled letters were spread over the desk and the floor while Leliana was working on a new one. She needed to at least have a sign that Solona Amell was still alive, somewhere out there in the big world, fighting to return to her.





	Come Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> Haha, I did not write anything in quite some time... Well, apart from this story that is inspired by real life events told using the DA setting because just like Leli, I have my own Warden *grins*. Anyway, enough about that, I hope you can enjoy the story!
> 
> Annien

Come Home

 

 

It was on one of the nights when Leliana lost all hope, that she decided to take the matters into her own hands. She was praying to the Maker each day for her lover to return to her, for Him to look after the mage and to at least have a sign that Solona Amell was still alive, somewhere out there in the big world, fighting to return to her.

With Justinia’s death, the precarious situation the world was in – not knowing if that day would be the _last day_ – and with her prayers going unnoticed, the Spymaster used her influence to convince the Inquisitor to send a letter to contact the Hero of Ferelden and ask her about Corypheus and his Archdemon. The only question on the bard’s mind was what good would her network of spies be if she could not find her lover?

When Trevelyan accepted the use of the Inquisition’s forces to track Solona down the bard saw an opportunity to send a second letter, a much personal one. Putting all that into motion was the easy part, the most difficult one was figuring out what to say to her lover in the letter. Being apart for so long and not knowing if they would ever see each other again was causing her distress and was threatening to break her at the same time. Leliana got broken so many times that it took Solona to mend her and put her back together, so losing the Warden would completely shatter her.

With the world kicking her to the ground time and again, the redhead did not know if she had the strength to put on a brave face for her lover, but she knew that she had to at least try to do that for the mage. The clock stroke 3AM and Leliana was still at her desk, a lone candle in the complete darkness of the rockery and the utmost silence filling the now-asleep Skyhold. Four crumpled letters were spread over the desk and the floor while Leliana was working on a new one.

Even though she was a bard, no words could ever express the love and longing she felt for the woman that could make even the stormiest day turn sunny. All her thoughts were screaming at the world for keeping them apart, but she could hardly write that in the letter. With a sigh and a deep breath she took another sheet of paper and started again.

 

_“Dearest Solona,_

_I am not sure if you will ever get to read this, but I must keep the faith that our love can travel the longest of distances and nest into each other’s hearts._

_I could begin to tell you how the world is falling apart, how my world is falling apart in your absence, but I am sure you will be put up to speed by the letter Inquisitor Trevelyan will attach to this one. So, I will not waste any of our short time with trivial matters. Instead, I will take this time to be with you, even if you are thousands of miles away._

_I want to tell you how I have started to sleep on your side of the bed, or how on the days when I feel lonely I wear your clothes underneath my armour so that I can breathe in your scent and pretend that you are right next to me._

_I want to tell you how I hear your voice in the wind and I smile, before I realise that it was just my own imagination, or how I idly play with the ring on my finger in the war table meetings of the Inquisition. I want to tell you how everything I do reminds me of you and how I always ask myself ‘What would Solona do now?’_

_But most of all, I want to tell you that I miss you immensely and that I will fight until my last breath to be reunited with you. Come home, my love, I have been waiting for you for so long. So, please come home…_

_Yours always,_

_Leliana”_

 

The bard held it together long enough to send her best agent with the two letters, then headed straight for her quarters, buried her head in the pillow that used to belong to her lover and cried herself to sleep.

 

***

 

It was early in the morning when Solona, accompanied by Sigrun, Oghren and a few other Grey Warden recruits made it back to their camp in The Weathered Pass. They were gone for almost two weeks in the Deep Roads and some of them looked worse for wear, their clothes scorched here and there and a few of them even had their weapons broken or their shields shattered.

“Ugh, if I don’t have to go back underground ever again I’ll consider that a good life,” Solona said as she slumped against a bedroll situated in front of the campfire.

Velanna, who remained to take care of the camp and the other Grey Wardens that did not venture into the Deep Roads, settled beside Solona, a confused look on her face. “But as the Commander of the Grey it is your duty to fight the darkspawns and eradicate them from their homes. That would make you a really bad Commander.”

The mage’s only reaction was to turn her head to her recruit and regard her with an impassive expression, hoping that the elf will be able to pick up on her cues. Luckily for her, Oghren shared in on her feelings.

“At this point even I like the open air more than the Stone underneath my feet. And no more volcanoes from now on. Tallo’s Eye was enough for me.”

“Does this mean that you found the Titan?” The Dalish elf could not keep her excitement out of her voice.

“Aye.”

“And did you collect its song in the crystals like it was said in First Enchanter Remille’s grimoire?”

“Aye.”

“So, we have a cure for the Calling then?”

“It’s too soon to tell,” Solona interfered, “and I can get no reading on what type of magic this is. But I think I have an idea who might know.”

“Don’t tell me you’re talking about that sodding Witch of the Wilds,” Oghren grunted.

“Morrigan’s expertise might come in handy for us, but I was also thinking of Grand Enchanter Fiona, giving the fact that she _supposedly_ wore a variant of this type of magic and was cured of the taint afterwards.”

“Does this mean we’re going home?” Velanna’s voice was filled with hope.

The elf was left waiting for an answer as Solona shushed everybody when she saw a shadow moving in the nearby trees. Without making any sound, the mage stood up and went ahead to investigate, tapping into the Fade and gathering her magic in the palm of her hand, readying a spell. Her companions all stood up and prepared their weapons in case they needed to jump to their leader’s defence. None of them was able to sense any darkspawns around, so all they could do was to wait and see what would Solona do next.

As soon as she got close enough to prove her assumption, the Warden-Commander allowed her magic to dissipate and then addressed her old acquaintance in a jovial tone.

“Speaking of home, didn’t you venture a little too far, my friend?”

The very next moment a handsome thin elf with white hair and bearing the markings of the elven God of secrets, Dirthamen, stepped out of the shadows, a smirk adorning his kind features.

“It’s not my fault that you decided to run to the farthest corners of Thedas.” The first thing the elf did was to pull the slightly taller Solona into a hug, which the mage returned wholeheartedly. “It’s really good to see you, old friend.”

“Likewise, Sparrow.” It took another moment for the Warden to realise why the elf might be there, and the worst possibilities ran through her head before she could stop those thoughts. “But why are you here? Is everything alright? Is Leliana…” Solona could not finish that thought, the simple idea that something happened to her lover was threatening to bring her to her knees.

“She’s safe,” Sparrow hurried to answer. “The situation is dire back home, but I can assure you she is unharmed. She has some good friends looking after her. Come on, I’ll fill you in over a hot meal, I’m starving.”

“You didn’t change a bit, my friend,” the mage chuckled as she wrapped a hand over the elf’s shoulders and guided him back to the camp.

 

***

 

Solona caught up with what was happening back in Ferelden and Orlais and the mission of the Inquisition, then let Sparrow have some warm food and some rest. She entered her tent – meant only for the Warden-Commander – sat down on the bedroll and opened Leliana’s letter.

Tears formed in her eyes in the moment she saw her lover’s handwriting. As she started reading the letter those same tears started running unabashed down her cheeks. The emotions taking over her were so intense that she almost chocked. By the time she finished the letter her heart threatened to beat out of her chest, so the mage closed her eyes and touched the ring stuck on a chain above her heart to calm herself. As she was circling her fingers on the edge of it, her breathing slowed down and she fell into the memory of the last moment they shared.

 

* * *

 

Solona was taken back to the morning that she received word from the First Commander back in Weisshaupt that her request to look into how the Grey Warden Avernus was prolonging his life and preventing the Calling was approved. Leliana was still asleep in their bed when the mage read the missive that contained her new orders. She knew that her lover was a light sleeper and did not want to disturb her, but due to the urgency of her mission Solona did not want to be away from her redhead.

When she returned to the bed, hugged and buried her head into the back of Leliana’s neck, the bard stirred awake and interlocked their fingers together. They knew each other so well and they had such a strong connection that Leliana realised something was amiss.

“What’s wrong, my love?” The bard asked while kissing the back of Solona’s hand.

“Can’t I hug my future wife without something being wrong?”

“Well, of course you can,” the bard slowly turned in her lover’s arms, cupped her cheek and looked deep into the mage’s eyes. “But that doesn’t change the fact that something is troubling you. Do you want to tell me what that is?” she asked gently.

Solona reached to kiss Leliana’s forehead, then, with a sigh, answered her concerns. “The First Commander approved my request to search for a cure.”

“But that’s exactly what we hoped for. What’s the issue?”

“I have to leave in a few hours for Weisshaupt.”

“So soon? How long will you be gone?”

“Yes, they have reasons to believe that the Calling can be stopped. They don’t know how long it will take, or if it can be done. For now I have mostly rumours to go by.”

When Solona saw the bard’s frown at the uncertainty of their future, her heart became ten times heavier. She wished she could take her lover with her, but Leliana had her own duties as the Left Hand of the Divine.

“Come here,” the mage wrapped her arms tighter around the redhead and leaned with her head on the bard’s naked shoulder. “This is only temporary and it’s what we need to do to be able to spend the rest of our long lives together. You know that with the exposure to the Blight my lifespan is even shorter than for a regular Warden, so I cannot allow it to stand in the way of our happiness.”

“What if I come with you? Dorothea will understand,” Leliana interrupted.

“Leli,” Solona lowered her voice. “You know I would give anything to have you by my side, but we both know that you are needed here. The Divine needs you. No one else is able to do the job that you do and in your absence the vultures lurking around the Sunburst Throne wouldn’t care what happens to Justinia as long as they can take her place.”

“I know. I simply wanted to entertain that thought for just a moment,” the bard confessed as she settled into her lover’s embrace.

“Hey, this is not a goodbye, Leli. I am yours and I love you, always...”

“And forever. Je t’aime de tout mon coeur, ma chérie,” the bard whispered.

 

* * *

 

With newfound strength and resolution Solona folded the letter and placed it with the rest of the things she had from Leliana and got out of her tent. Everything happened so fast that both Velanna and Oghren were taken by surprise.

“Okay, let’s do this. Where’s Sparrow?” the Commander asked the elven mage, a bright smirk on her face.

“He’s resting in one of the tents of the new recruits.” Before she could even finish her sentence, Solona was already heading for the tents. “Do what, Commander?” Velanna shouted.

“Pack your bags, we’re going home!”


End file.
